GOAT farm
When I say GOAT, or Greatest of All Time, I’m sure some names come to your mind: Tom Brady, LeBron James, Michael Jordan or Serena Williams. Maybe even some non-humans, like Secretariat or Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap Supreme. What I know didn’t happen, though, is that anyone thought of the ornery farm animal.
The parameters by which we judge success change from year to year, generation to generation, even player to player or sport to sport. Call it the proverbial ‘moving of the goalpost,’ but oftentimes, we, as a society, allow ourselves to let a bias get in the way and cloud our judgment.
Was Muhammad Ali the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time? Some would say Joe Louis, with his 26 title bout wins, is the greatest (while Ali only had three). Or Len Wickwar, if we’re going by most wins. What about Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao? Where do they rank?
With shifting parameters and metrics available now that weren’t before, how does this stack up?
Pacquiao couldn’t be the GOAT, since he lost to Mayweather, right? That’s how it works, no? If you lose to someone else in contention, they automatically remove you from the conversation, because we often see all-time greats never lose a single time (the sarcasm that is laid on really thick here is probably hard to pick up on via printed media, so let this serve as the notice that I was being very sarcastic here).
A common comparison tool is “pound for pound” when it comes to combat sports, since it would be really unfair to put a welterweight and a heavyweight in the ring and have them duke it out (or would it be?)
Let’s go to tennis then. Do we allow recency bias to fog our lenses? Is Djokovic the greatest to ever step on the court? What about Agassi or McEnroe? Which Williams sister is the best to ever do it? Or is the best women’s tennis player Sharapova?
There are some athletes who have a better case than others when it comes to their claim to the GOAT title. Take Sharapova versus Serena Williams. Sharapova won the 2004 Wimbledon crown, but Serena was 20-2 against Maria overall. Who’s the best of that rivalry? Do you see where I’m going with this and how the waters are muddied and the area keeps getting grayer?
Unfortunately, there is no measuring stick to help us decide this. What one may have the advantage in (head-to-head competition, for example), the other may excel at another category (overall championships). This gets even harder to tell if they’re from different generations, since they never had the chance to play each other, and various rule changes since the first one left the sport.
Is Joe Montana the greatest quarterback of all time with his four Super Bowls? What about Dan Marino, who has arguably better statistics, but none? Enter in Tom Brady, and we have as clear of a GOAT as any, I’d say (and that’s coming from a certified Brady hater — he went to Michigan, and look what he did to Pittsburgh all those years).
Why don’t we put Terry Bradshaw in the same category as Montana? They have the same number of rings, and he even did it first. Well, I can tell you it’s because Bradshaw was an overrated quarterback who was saved by his Hall of Fame defense more often than not (and before you come for me, I’m a Steelers fan, so I can say that from a place of privilege).
Do you get what I’m doing here with all of these comparisons? I’m trying to paint the picture that no matter what lens we decide to look at statistics through, there will always be asterisks, caveats and something else to change the picture and make it fit someone else. Even players like Brady and Peyton Manning, who went head-to-head, can have their stories rewritten to show a different picture and allow someone to pick and choose who they think is better.
However, beyond Brady being clearly the greatest quarterback of all time, there is another pretty clear GOAT and I’m afraid it’s going to upset the lot of you.
When it comes to pure talent, domination and the overall sport of basketball, LeBron James is the best to ever do it, better than Magic, Larry, Michael, Kobe, and anyone else you want to compare him to. By the letter of the law, looking at raw basketball — not rings, which are a team accomplishment, or individual statistics, because those don’t tell the whole story — the kid from Akron is the best to ever lace up his shoes and play the sport.
And this isn’t my bias showing, either. I used to be a certified LeBron hater until he just kept doing what he does best: winning.
There are categories in which LeBron doesn’t lead, I’m aware, like rings. I know this. But nobody who has ever played the game as thoroughly, as well, and as dominating as No. 6 for the Lakers has. End to end, offense to defense, steal to assist, clutch play to routine jumper, LeBron has the complete package, and I refuse to believe there has ever been anybody to do such a thing.
My last bit of wisdom I will leave you with, for which you can ponder on before you get upset with my take, is that LeBron can play all five positions on the floor, and run the ball through them. Go watch game footage and you’ll see, as he’s done it before, and chances are, he’ll do it again.